Dreams
by TheFanFictionAlchemist
Summary: Re-edited version: A war has raged for centuries in thier world. The last great war between the vampires and the humans. Is there any hope of an end in sight? Kurogane/Fai Syaoran/Sakura Doumeki/Watanuki others. M for violence and blood.
1. Chapter 1

"There are those who would say that this story is true in its entirety. There are those who would say that it is but a legend, a delusion created by those who will not accept the reality of our world. But, how can I make you understand, you who have tasted freedom, and peace? I can only ask: if you had been born into a world of war, (as had you father, and your grandfather, and your great-grandfather had been, as your children, and their children would inevitably be) would you not create a fantasy? And if you had been born into such a world, had known death since before you were old enough to understand the concept, would you not think that a tale of peace, peace and prosperity that all supposedly existed in some far off past was a lie?

"You must understand, _all_ worlds have monsters, and not all monsters are strictly inhuman. Humans in almost all worlds tell children there are no monsters under the bed, or in the darkness of their closets. But of course, they lie.

"It is not intentional, for what they say is usually true. Most people can go through their entire lives without seeing a true monster, or at least, they live happily, in forced ignorance, pretending they cannot see what is in front of them.

"But this is not one of those places, and here, you would no more tell a child that there where no monsters than you would that there was no sun in the sky, or salt in the ocean. To do so would be the most blatant lie, in this place were evidence of monsters is given daily, by the hour, by the minute, by the second. _Monsters- _in the most acute and most extreme connotation of the word-creatures born from shadows, which feed on death, souls of hard black stone...or at least, that is what they say.

"Which brings us back to the story, a story known in this world, my world, to every mother, every child, every person, in some version or another; it is not quite a history, nor exactly a legend, and just shy of a myth. It is no such things, but only because humans will not agree that it is any of them. And the others try desperately to forget it.

"A thousand years ago, (the time being always just so specific) men did not call them monsters. And there was no war, no death, only a vast and endless peace. All the people of the world lived together, ruled from a great Shining City set upon a peninsula, which jutted out into the sea, a city of resplendent beauty, unsurpassed as yet by any other. Towers of pure white stone, with ivy and flowers of the same stuff creeping along them; carved animals, and idols from pagan lands, alongside the heroes and the beasts of fairytales, dancing upon every surface. And every flower beset with rubies in its petals, each beat with ivory in its horns. Every idol made from gold, so that the whole city shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight.

"And in those days, men called the others 'angels.'

"There is very little which every version of this story agrees on, though it is agreed that in those days, humans had a king. And the others had one as well, the two ruling jointly over all the land. Their king was wise and magnificent, as they all may appear to humans, when they wish. He was good and just, some versions say. Others that he was cruel, and merciless, a demon even if he wasn't called by the name, and deserved all that was done to him and more. This is but the barest facts, so I will make no judgment.

"The king grew older, and thought his people are said not to die, he became tired of ruling, so long had he done so, and wished to pass the throne on to another. However, he had no heir, and had never married…there are other stories as to why, but I will not tell them here in detail. So he took in two orphan boys of our own kind, twins with fine pale features, hair like the sunlight and eyes bluer that the shining sea around the city, bluer than some carving on the city's tower's sapphire eyes. It has been said that the only person alive to rival the beauty of one twin was the other. They were loved by him as his own children, and raised as his successors to the throne.

"It is said that the younger twin fell in love with a human. The king did not know of it, indeed the only one he told was his brother. But his lover was cruel, and one day, he killed the younger twin. We can only ever guess as to why, and the only one who knowsfor _sure_ would be the lover.

"The king himself was lost in rage, and grief. He had loved the boy as a son, and so he sought the human who had murdered him, and used his powers to kill him. The king was mad by then, and drank the blood of the fallen man, finding it sweet. And so he killed again, and again, no amount of blood sating his new hunger.

"The humans fled from his madness, terrified. And none of his own people could suppress him, so powerful had he become in his rage. So his remaining son went to him, knowing that the king would not kill him, if only him. He went with intent to do what he had to, and yet when he saw his father, saw the insanity of the madness that griped him, he felt only pity, and love. For he had cared for his brother too, and was stricken with grief over his death. It was then that he realized he could never take the life of this man…not, in any case, for feeling grief over his son's death. So he sealed him away in sleep, to dream forever, and hopefully never arise, and vowed that one day he would return, if ever he could discover a cure for his father's insanity.

"Then, he went into exile, and was never again seen.

"The humans however would no longer trust the angels. They said that they were demons, and named them vampires. And many of the vampires had followed the king into madness, finding blood to be intoxicating, killing and drinking it at will.

"The old gods, who guarded the world, saw this, and they saw the terror that their children were causing. So they cursed them that they would need blood to live, that they would crave it with an endless hunger, that without it, they would die. And with that, they left this world to its fate, returning to the perfect realms from whence they came.

"And that was the start of this war, the great war, the endless war. Or so it is said. The only ones who could confirm the story will not speak of it. So you must decide for yourselves, if that is what occurred. It matters little to me what you might think. You think I am an animal, regardless of how I became one. You will not give me a second chance.

"Why should I give you one?"


	2. Chapter 2

**To Dream **

**DISCLAIMER:** Nothing belongs to me, at all.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**This story is really more of a...distillation than anything else. You'll probably see bits of Ann Rice, Vampire Knight, Vampire Hunter D, the original Dracula, and even possably the Twilight series, but not much of that one's writing style, (As this particular series causes..._enthusiastic_results among some, be they positive or negative, I will say this now to get it out of the way, and never more metion the SMeyers books. My opinion of the Twilight series is this: They aren't as bad as some make them out to be, nor as good as other do. Yes, I read them. Yes the fourth book was an utter travisty. No, the first three weren't that bad. I would in fact say that I enjoyed them, but not in the way one enjoyes great art. Rather, the way one enjoys a Harlequin Romance novel, or a romantic comedy staring Huge Grant and Drew Barrymore that isn't actually very good. It's entertaining, and it's trashy, simple as that. It's only the lesions of scary fangirls that elevate them to cult like status, acting as though Edward is 'OMFG SOOOOOO CUTE!!!111oneone' and I am not one of them. That's that, moving on!)as well as a a few more series, manga, movies and books.

Lot's o' Kuro back-story here. Little different than you probably remember, though it's really just a more detailed version given a bit earlier in the story.

* * *

When Kurogane dreamed, and it was not a common thing that he did, it was always of them.

He dreamed of his mother, of long raven hair, fine features, and that implacable scent that reminded him of peppermints. Or his father, strong and brave, and everything he had longed to be as a child, the family's valiant protector from the harshness of the world. He dreamed of them and of his home in his youngest years, now lost. Of warm summer sunshine through the kitchen window. Or the crunch of the Autumn leaves on the porch steps. Or soft winters snowfall, and the taste of warm soup and hot tea. Of love, and safety, tainted now by loss, and grief, and anger. The memory of the day his father, a hunter as he was now, had gone out with his team...and not returned. Things changed then, _she _changed, in almost unperceivable ways. They had to leave the little house of his earliest childhood, in favor of the communal housing district. It had not been a bad place, even if the roof leaked in the rain, and the building shook in the wind, he still had what was left of his family, his mother. Until the night _they _came, and the last remaining piece of his childhood world was gone, ripped from him as the father he now so resembled had been years before.

The attack had been one of force, sheer numbers being the only advantage they had possessed. Yet, it had been enough. They had nearly overwhelmed the city's defenses, breaching the wall on the north side, and invading the little slum neighborhood of the communal housing district. He remembered even now the screams of friends and strangers, of men, of women, of children he knew, and played with on the streets. But most of all those of someone who was all too familiar to him. She had forced him to hide in the small closet of their room when they'd heard the first of the screams, hoping to keep him safe form the onslaught. He'd stayed there, as he'd promised he would, through the whole attack.

He hadn't even been there when his mother had died.

The humans won, managing to drive them out beyond the wall, but only just, managing to drive the vampires out of the city and resealing the barrier as well as they could in the cover of daylight. This left Kurogane, hiding in the closet, keeping his word, until a wandering party of hunters came across him in the wreckage. he was questioned, and tested, his aptitude for and knowledge of the fighting arts quickly noted. He asked to be trained as a hunter, begged when a city psychiatrist had said that he was suffering from trauma, and that he should not be allowed. He was relentless, and for beter or worse, at thirteen he was accepted into the Academy. He trained there with a single mindedness that bordered on obsession, always striving to be the strongest, the fastest, the best. Better. Better than his father, who he had once so idolized, yet now thought weak. After all, he hadn't been able to protect himself from the bloodsuckers, never mind his _family. _Of course, his own mistake was far worse than any of his father's.

And so, his rage festered, and turned to hatred, given an outlet. Killing men without mercy was a sin, but killing _them_ relentlessly, a virtue. So, he became a bringer of this form of _justice_, the justice of death, the virtue of hate, to those none would condemn him for hating.

But he never dreamed of this. No, when he dreamed, it was only ever of his earliest childhood. Of the mother he'd betrayed, and the father who'd betrayed him.

And on that particular day, he was roused from just such a dream, (He had been small, and his mother was waiting eagerly for the return of his father. Kurogane had brought flowers for her, red flowers that he had found growing from the cracks in the concrete sidewalk. She had smiled when she'd seen them, and he'd puffed up with pride, saying that he knew red was her favorite color. They put them in a little plastic mug full of water on the kitchen table.) by a relentless tapping.

"Yes," He hissed.

"Master," a shaking voice sounded through the door. Kurogane glanced at the clock by his bed: 5:34.

"Its 5:30 in the goddamned morning! This sure as hell better be important! I'm off today!" He snapped, perhaps a bit too harshly. Though, with all he did he felt had earned the right to sleep as long as he liked on his days off. And as this was one such day, he had to wonder why exactly he was being awoken so early, by the trembling voice of his apprentice.

"Master, I'm sorry to wake you..." and the boy really did sound sorry, "But the Lady-Mage Yuko requires you, in person," the voice quivered a little, showing the apprentice was a bit worried about his master's reaction to being woken and informed he was to meet with one of his least favorite people.

"Go tell Yuko to fuck off. I don't answer to her. I'm in Tomoyo's group."

"Yes sir," He faltered, "It's just she said you would say as much. And asked me to remind you that her power supersedes that of Lady Tomoyo. Particularly on the apportionment of assignments, and designation of rest days."

The threat was inherent. The woman, for all he hated her, had more magic, than any of the other sorceresses...combined. Hence why she was their leader, acting as the apex of the vital web of detection magic that kept the city more or less safe from the vampires. And she could use her power as leader to make life very miserable indeed for anyone who annoyed her, and had been known to, in the past. Though, waking him at this hour, to tell him to drive to the central building was a low blow, even for her.

"Yeah, well, go on, tell her I'm coming on the com, then get back to bed, there's still an hour and a half till the breakfast bell." Kurogane gruffly said. Even if he didn't say so, there was a part of him that felt sympathy for Syaoran having been woken at this hour simply to give his master a message. However, that was part of all apprentices' jobs, and Kurogane had done as much for Soma during his apprenticeship.

In the hall, the boy gladly took his leave, yawning, and walking back to his own adjacent, and much smaller, apprentices' quarters.

Kurogane snarled, as he got up, stretching his muscled arms; the previous day had been busy. He and his fighters had discovered a whole pack of leeches, hiding out behind Esren ridge, picking off travelers on the road. It had taken some quick ingenuity by their archer Doumeki to get them out of it. He liked that man- quiet, and knew how to do his job. And now, apparently Kurogane owed him his life.

The question of the morning, however, was why that selfish bitch Yuko had woken him at an ungodly hour on his off day! He did rise though, the threat too much even for him to ignore, and pulled on a rough black tunic, and pants of the same material; then donned a pair of heavy leather boots. He slung his long-sword across his back, and ran a hand through his unruly ebony bangs. This was highly disrespectful, to even think of going to the Lady-Mage dressed so. Of course, that was the idea. He was Kurogane, the greatest hunter in Esren, and there was no way he was going to dress in uniform for anyone but the Lady Tomoyo at 5:30 in the morning.

He twisted his way through the winding corridor of the barracks, toward the door. The halls were largely empty, as any hunters were either out on assignment, or asleep at such an hour. As he should have been! The door slid open for him automatically when he reached it with a light ___hisss_. 

Outside the sky was still dark, overcast, the air tinged with the sent of imminent rainfall. Great, he thought, as if today had needed help being fucking terrible. Just then, the clouds suddenly opened, soaking him to the bone with the heavy downpour in an instant. He began to stalk through the parking lot, cursing at the sky, at the climate, at himself for parking so far away, and Yuko.

This was sure to be one long ass day.


End file.
